


Vengeance...Is Not So Sweet

by Hitaka5Ever



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Fighting, Ghazan is Lieutenant's older brother, Headcanon, Season 3, Swearing, brutal and major character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 09:19:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2186247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitaka5Ever/pseuds/Hitaka5Ever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>—headcanon based— To kill those that wronged you, would be a terrible waste for me</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vengeance...Is Not So Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> This drabble is brought to you by my interesting little headcanon that Ghazan from Season 3 of Legend of Korra is Season 1 Lieutenant’s older brother, who killed their entire family and left Lieutenant for dead. My original Lieu headcanon was that Firebenders killed his family and left him alive to carry the guilt on his shoulders for the rest of his life, but then I saw a gifset of Ghazan and noticed who similar they were. So this drabble was born with that in mind

He remembered the day as though it were yesterday. At age fourteen, on that fateful, dark day, was the day his hatred for Benders came. To this day, especially at this moment, as he stared this Bender down, he had resented each and every last one of them, every single day. Soon, the death of his non-Bending family would be avenged. And all it took…was one electric blow.

Despite his hatred of Benders, he had joined forces with the Avatar once he discovered Zaheer's right hand man was his family's murderer. Never would he forget the very man that he hated all those many years, even after he was long gone from this world. Before the final battle, he had pulled Korra aside, giving her a pleading look behind black with clear lens goggles.

"You _must_ leave Ghazan to me."

Korra gave him a stern look. "What for? I have no reason to ever trust you, Lieutenant."

Gritting his teeth in anger, Lieutenant, ex-right-hand man of late Amon, grabbed her arm tight in warning. "And I have no reason to give you one! My reasons are my own! But you have to let me take on Ghazan! I'm the only one who can!"

Korra gave him an angry look, seeing so much emotion in the old man's eyes. There was pain, anguish, and rage deep inside them. Gradually, Korra's eyes softened and she looked away. Lieutenant's grip was partly relinquished once he realized what her look meant.

"Fine, go then." She looked back at Lieutenant, looking stern again. "Do what you have to do."

They stared hard at each other for a moment before Lieutenant released her arm, turned to the left, and reached back for his kali sticks on his back as he headed towards Ghazan's position on the battlefield. The sticks crackled with electricity as he twirled them around in his hands at his sides.

' _Soon, you will pay for what you did to us_ _…brother.'_

As Lieutenant walked towards his destination, a flashback to that time came, giving him the strength he needed to end this…

* * *

It was a bright, warm, sunny day in the early afternoon. Out in a field, where crops grew and livestock roamed, a family of farmers were tending to the crops and animals with tools. Standing near an older man was a dark brown-haired, fifteen year old boy, almost as thin as a toothpick, helping him plant a bunch of seeds as the man raked the dirt. In the sunlight, the boy's medium brown eyes sparkled, revealing his almost naïve and innocent nature. Unlike everyone else, he seemed to be glad to help out.

"Hey, Lee?"

Stopping what he was doing, the boy looked over at a woman that looked like she could be his mother. "Yes?"

The woman sprinkled a bucketful of water on a row of planted crops. "Would you check on Bessy? She should be giving birth to her new calf soon."

"Yeah, sure," Lee said. Walking over to her, he handed her his package of seedlings to her. "I'll refill your bucket for you too."

Smiling, the woman traded with him, placing her fingertips on his cheek. "Thank you, dear."

"Anything for you, Ma." Lee walked away, tossing the bucket in the air to pass the time as he walked a long way back to their farmhouse and stables. Five minutes later, and he was checking on their ordinary cow, Bessy, who was laying down in a bed of straw and grass. Setting the bucket down outside the door, Lee came up to her left side and crouched by her head, smiling. "Hey, girl. How's it goin'?"

Looking at him, Bessy mooed weakly, but her eyes showed she was happy and content. Lee patted the side of her neck gently before turning to her very fat stomach and feeling it with both hands. She watched him as he made sure everything was in order. Once closer to her udders, he felt something move inside, making him smile again. In a day or two, she would give birth to a, hopefully, very healthy calf. Lee stood back up half a minute later, glancing at her face.

"Let me give Ma her water bucket, then I will come back and feed you."

Bessy mooed louder and longer this time. Nodding in understanding, Lee turned back to the door, left and grabbed the bucket on the way, then moved towards their nice and big wooden house that could house eight to ten people in it. Although Lee didn't have a lot of siblings or relatives living there, he was still glad to be in this family, despite their hardships. He loved his mother and father very much and he wouldn't ask for anything better.

Going to the back of the house, Lee set the bucket under the spigot, crouched, and opened the valve. After a few seconds, water rushed out and into the bucket. Droplets flew out the closer to the top the water was. Lee was about to shut the spigot off when he heard a loud sound in the distance. Alarmed, he got up and spin around, his heel knocking into the bucket accidentally. His eyes widened when he saw dark smoke rising into the air, right around where his family was working. Forgetting the water for now, Lee started to run back, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Halfway back to the field, Lee heard an explosion and the sound of an older woman screaming in terror.

"Mom!"

As more explosions and fire erupted all over the field, Lee ran even faster, panting heavily. As he was reaching rows of cherry red tomatoes, a ball of fire and lava crashed into the ground several yards away. Lee looked surprised, wondering how lava could be around here when there was no volcano for thousands of miles.

With heavy smoke filling the air, Lee was having trouble seeing much of anything. He heard people yelling and screaming to one another all around him. He kept calling for his mother and father, hoping to find them safe. Not too far away, he saw a silhouette standing over a crumpled heap on the ground. Gritting his teeth, Lee rushed forward, anger fueling him.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

As Lee got closer to the two people, his vision cleared up right as a ball of lava came streaking towards him from the standing figure. Sliding to a stop and gasping, Lee jumped to the left, crashing sideways on the dirt. As more lava balls came at him, he scrambled and rolled away, hearing more explosions. He quickly got back on his feet, dodged to the right when another lava ball came at him, and rushed the attacker.

"STOP IT!" The attacker ignored him as they aimed a lava-encased fist at him. Growling, Lee ducked and then tackled the attacker to the ground. Lifting his head and a right fist, he was ready to punch the attacker, but he froze, his eyes widening in shock and fear. "G…Ghazan?"

Ghazan, Lee's nineteen year old brother, with the beginnings of a catfish mustache, glared up at him, thrusting an earth-encased hand at his face, grabbing his head. As the earth slowly heated up, Ghazan pushed Lee off him and started to stand, squeezing his forehead with a thick, strong hand. Lee was paralyzed, pain filling his head. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream.

"You should have stayed home, little brother."

As the earth turned halfway into lava, Ghazan threw Lee as far away as he could, throwing him into a cart with sharp farm tools inside. There was a loud crashing sound as it tipped over with Lee inside. Ghazan then threw a ball of lava at it, letting it explode and burst into flames. Inside with tools covering part of him, Lee felt the heat wash over him, making him sweat. When he felt pain on his arms, legs, and stomach, he screamed and thrashed around, trying to get the cart off him. When he thought he was going to burn alive, the cart was suddenly pulled off him, letting Lee gasp in some much needed air. Looking up, he saw his strong father hitting the fire on his body out.

"Go back to the barn and stables! Stay with Bessy!"

Lee sat up. "But dad-!"

The man looked angrily at him in rage. "GO!" he bellowed.

Jumping in fright, Lee slid back, turned on hands and knees, and then jumped up, running back towards the farmhouse. He heard more explosions and the ground shook violently, but he dared not look back, in fear of what he would see. He ran all the way back to the stable, slamming the door shut behind him and shoving boxes, crates, and other heavy items against it before running to Bessy. Even all the way from here, the sounds of fire and lava and earth trembling could be heard, stressing the cow out. If she didn't calm down, it could be bad news for her calf.

"Don't worry, Bess, dad will stop Ghazan from hurting our family. You need to calm down girl."

Lee pet and patted Bessy comfortingly, helping her relax. Gradually, in a thirty minute radius, the horrendous sounds diminished and then stopped completely. Lee stayed with Bessy until his father and mother came to get him. For another twenty minutes, nothing happened, but then Lee heard soft footsteps approaching. The teen was tense as he waited with bated breath for whoever was coming for him. He _really_ hoped it was his father, coming to tell him that he had stopped Ghazan from raging destruction on their home.

Lee suddenly jumped when he saw shadows under the wall from out of the corner of his eye to his left. They had stopped for several seconds before continuing and then vanishing. Lee waited with his heart pounding hard in his chest, almost knowing that the shadow had belonged to Ghazan. Did that mean he had-?

Behind Bessy and Lee, the wall exploded, sending chunks of wood towards them. One sharp piece landed just short of the cow's chest, causing her to hastily get up. Having been right beside her, Lee fell over after she hit him. He sat up right as several large chunks of earth landed on top of her, crushing her. Hearing her pained cry, Lee scrambled to his feet.

"Noooooo!"

Lee tried to reach her, to throw the earth off her, but a wall of rock and dirt rose up in his path, stopping him.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Lee spun around, backing into the wall as Ghazan approached him. "Why are you doing this?!"

Ghazan stopped a few feet away, staring snidely at his brother. "You ignorant brat. Why should I bother doing this petty shit for the rest of my life, when I could do so much more? I mean, I _am_ the only Bender in this pathetic family."

Curling his hands into fists, Lee growled at him. "So that gives you an excuse to kill our family?!"

Throwing his head back, Ghazan laugh. "Of course it does!" Lee's heart stopped. Ghazan looked back at him. "I had to test my power that I had been upgrading for the last seven years some day, to prove I wasn't weak like all of you. So, knowing all of us would be working in the fields, I knew it was time to prove myself worthy of my gift. I didn't count on you getting away to help our poor, defenseless, Bender-less mother, but it still worked out in the end. Now you and I are the only ones left."

During this explanation, angry and anguished tears had formed in Lee's eyes and were now spilling down his cheeks. "H-How…could you murder her…?"

"Ha! Believe me, it was easier than I thought it would be. She begged me to spare her life, to stop what I was doing before it destroyed me, but I told her it was too late. And _very_ slowly, Lee, I covered her in hot molting magma and listened to her _scream_."

Rage finally taking control of him, Lee yelled a feral cry as he tried to attack his bigger and older brother. Smirking, Ghazan put his hands close together, the palms facing each other, and summoned some earth, swirling the pieces together. As Lee jumped into the air to punch his lights out, Ghazan thrust his arms forward, slamming the thick ball of rock and dirt, the inside pooling with lava as he heated it up, into Lee's sternum and ribs. The force of the blow and lava bursting out of the cracks caused Lee to be sent flying back into the rafters above, his body slamming through it as he screamed…

* * *

"GHAZAAAAAAAAAAN!"

On the final battlefield, Earthbender Ghazan, whose ability allowed him to turn rock into bubbling hot magma, turned around, seeing Lieutenant coming down at him from the sky, electrical kali sticks held up beside the right side of his head. Ghazan jumped back as they came swishing down at him, dodging the deadly sparks with ease. Landing in a crouch, Lieutenant rushed forward, thrusting the sticks upward at an angle, trying to hit Ghazan in the chest. The Earthbender merely stepped back and threw up a chunk of earth between them. The tiny wall shattered as Lieutenant smashed them with his sticks. Out of nowhere, a heavy fist came at his face, managing to punch him. Lieutenant slid back, his sticks up in front of him for defense, in case Ghazan attacked again. But the man merely stood up straight, sneering at Lieu.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my little brother Lee." Lieutenant stood up straight while spreading his arms out, glaring at him. "Still alive?"

Lieutenant growled. "Yes, no thanks to you."

"Come now, Lee, don't be like that," Ghazan jeered. "You should be honored that I left your weak ass alive all those years ago. Because of my generosity, I did you a _favor_ , _Equalist_." Gripping his kali sticks tight, Lieutenant yelled a battle cry as he charged Ghazan. The Earthbender merely stood his ground, rocks rising up to his hands to swirl around them. "Heh, that's a good boy…"

As Lieutenant slashed at him with his kali sticks, Ghazan reached forward with his left hand and grabbed one with rocks. Unfortunately, Lieu was at a disadvantage since electricity had no effect against earth, so Ghazan didn't suffer any damage. Gripping the stick tight, sparks flying, he jerked his arm up, lifting Lieutenant in the air. He turned around as he tried throwing Lieu over his shoulder. Flipping over his head, Lieutenant yanked his kali stick free and dropped down in a crouch. He spun his body around, trying to hit Ghazan with his left stick. The Earthbender spun, kicking the stick and his arm away before thrusting his right hand forward. Bending low, Lieutenant back flipped away, landing on his feet and sliding back half a foot. With his footing solid, he rushed Ghazan again.

For fifteen minutes Ghazan and Lieutenant duked it out, electricity versus rock and lava. Lieutenant was much more flexible and faster than his bulkier brother, but Ghazan's strength and successful strategies were just as good. He stepped back hastily as Lieu swiftly tried hitting him with his kali sticks as he whipped and whirled them around. He kept having to lift his hands in defense to avoid being electrocuted. Jumping up suddenly, Lieutenant aimed two quick kicks at Ghazan's chest and then his face. The Earthbender slid back after getting hit. Lieutenant landed back on his feet before charging at him again.

Ghazan sidestepped to the left, quickly aiming a lava-covered foot at Lieutenant's chest. Gripping his kali sticks tight, Lieu flipped over Ghazan's leg and then slashed at it with the sparking sticks. Not seeing such a smart move, electricity traveled up Ghazan's leg, paralyzing it momentarily. He fell over sideways as he lost his balance. He quickly placed his hand on the ground and cartwheeled back onto his feet. Landing in a crouch, Lieutenant turned as he got up, watching Ghazan spin around, throwing a ball of rock and lava at him. Eyes narrowing, Lieutenant placed his kali sticks in an X-formation in front of his chest, not intending to dodge. As they caught the ball, Lieutenant slid back several feet, the ball slowly vanishing. Ghazan's eyes widened when the electricity grew stronger around them. Eyes narrowing and teeth gritting, he growled in anger.

"Dammit Lee!"

Lieutenant glared right back. "It's Lieutenant."

Twirling his kali sticks around in his hands, Lieutenant swiftly charged Ghazan, determination set on his face. Spreading his legs half a foot, Ghazan lifted his hands, palms up, in front of him, rock coming up from the ground to swirl into balls. He warmed up the insides to make lava. As Lieutenant jumped high in the air above him, his kali sticks high in the air above his head, Ghazan began to thrust his hands forward. At the same time, Lieutenant threw his sticks downward, crossing them in front of his chest and face. As the two devastating attacks touched, lava spurting out of the cracks in the rocks and electricity sparking from the sticks, a bright flash of light and the charging sound of electrical currents came between the two hated brothers. As magnetic energy increased drastically, neither moved, as if time had completely stopped.

As they stared at each other, Ghazan's teeth were gritted very tight, his lips parted from them to reveal a growling snarl. Above, Lieutenant's eyes were half closed and his mouth was closed in a lightly closed line, his hair blowing wildly around his forehead. The light between them was almost completely covering them now. All around, Benders stopped fighting to look at the magnificent display unfold, only to get blinded by the bright light. At the highest point above the battlefield, Zaheer and Korra paused their fight, hearing electricity crackling and echoing loudly. Their eyes widened when they knew exactly who was doing this.

"Lieutenant…" As soon as his name passed Korra's lips, the light exploded into a large, brilliant flash, the force of the magnetic field, electricity, and lava forcing everyone nearest to fly off their feet. Korra spun around to face it, looking worried. "LIEUTENAAAAAAAANT!"

The combined energies made a deafening sound seconds before they exploded, sending people flying once more. Unseen by the naked eye, Ghazan and Lieutenant were hit by the blast. Ghazan was sent spinning and spiraling backwards into the air while Lieutenant flew back, his right leg almost going over his head as he was sent flipping. As he began to fall, there was another, smaller explosion that hit him in the back, forcing him higher up in the air and disappearing. Yards away, Ghazan was falling back towards the ground, his mouth wide open as blood burst from his throat. Seconds later and he crashed headfirst into the earth, his body flipping over. His back crashed into the ground, making him bounce over and land on his stomach. He then slid back several feet, collapsing into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Why, brother? Why would you take them from us? Mother…father…_

Fifteen years. It had been fifteen long, hard years since the death of the entire Lentil family. Every year, the closest town would put up memorials in their honor, celebrating not their death, but the way they had lived, so happy and carefree. They had been poor, yes, but that didn't stop them from living.

Only two of the family had been missing once the villagers found them, dead in their partly burning and smoking fields that were unsalvageable. No one knew what happened to Ghazan or Lee, but they had mourned their deaths too, making graves even though there would be no bodies to put them in.

In the village pub, on October twenty-fifth, a young man with brown hair and light brown, hazel eyes sat at the bar, drinking the strongest cocktail the pub had to offer. He downed his fifth one, wiping his mouth with the back of his naked arm. The bartender made him another, striking up a conversation.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong, Lieu? I worry aboutcha…"

Ignoring him, the young man lifted the cocktail to his lips, paused as he had a split second, second thought, and then shot it down. He then slammed the glass back on the counter.

"Damn Benders took my job again…"

The bartender grimaced. "Ah, Lieu. I'm sorry."

Lieu snorted. "The job was crap from start to finish anyway. Two more." Lieu ended up drinking seven more shots that night. When his friend told him that that was enough now, he slammed some coins onto the counter and got up. "I'll be back, hic, tomorra."

"Just sleep it off, Lieu."

Stumbling around, clearly drunk as hell, Lieu staggered towards the door, waving his hand in the air. "Ay, whatever…"

Lieu slammed the pub door open and walked out, nearly tripping over his own feet. With a belch, he regained his balance and walked clumsily down the dirt road, too disoriented to give a shit about anything. His eyes kept drooping and closing, but he tried to force his brain to function enough to keep them open. Minutes later and he entered gang territory. He had no choice of course, seeing as his shabby, tiny apartment was just beyond the more dangerous parts of the village. As soon as Lieu entered an ally, two people came up behind him, deadly silent, forming their respected elements around their hands and partway up their arms. When Lieu was in the middle, another person appeared menacingly, fire forming around his left hand as he held his fingers up. Lieu stopped, staring tiredly at the Firebender.

"You a Bender?"

Lieu blinked, seemingly uncaring. "Why would I want to be…?"

The Firebender's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Dissing my kind, huh? You'll pay for that, weakling."

Lieu glanced back as the other Benders as they took a step closer. Exhaling out of his nose, he turned around, very slowly reaching for a metal trash can lid. As the Waterbender rushed him first, he quickly snatched the lid up by the handle and jerked it swiftly to the right, catching him off guard. His feet stumbled to the side after his face was hit, and he crashed into the wall, grunting in pain as he fell. The other Waterbender made whip-like water trails, holding them in his hands and slashing at Lieu. Tossing the lid to grab the edge of it, he threw it hard like a Frisbee. The Waterbender didn't have enough time to whip it out of the air as it slammed into his jugular, causing him to choke and fall backwards. Lieu heard the Firebender coming up behind him, so he spun around, ready to punch him in the face, but he saw the Bender hit the wall with a sickening crack. Lieu stopped his fist short, his eyes wide in surprise. How had that happened?

As the Firebender fell to the filthy ally floor, Lieu looked up from hearing steady footsteps coming from the darkness, coming straight for him. Tensing up for another attack, Lieu charged whoever was there, a fist ready. The footsteps stopped as Lieu reached the owner, throwing a punch for his face. Or at least, that's what he thought it was. Lieu's fist sailed past an egg white-colored porcelain mask as a man's head jerked to the side. Stopping in surprise, Lieu pulled his arm back and stepped away, creeped out by the weird mask with a funny cat-like mouth where a human mouth would be. The man didn't move, just stared blankly at Lieu, who didn't know what to think of him. All he knew is that the mask was creepy and he didn't really want to see it in the dark like this.

"Wh-Who are you?"

The man blinked as he lowered his gaze. "Are you alright?"

Lieu's heart skipped a beat in surprise. "I'm…" His stomach suddenly churned horribly. "Excuse me." Turning to the trash can, Lieu leaned over it and heaved hard, vomiting up alcohol and his undigested dinner. The masked man looked back up in alarm. Lieu stayed hunched over for ten seconds, just in case he threw up again. When his stomach quieted down, he straightened himself out and slowly turned back around. "I'm fine."

The masked man snorted softly. "Of course you are…"

Lieu glared at him. "Ah go to Hell you sarcastic bastard!" He moved towards the man. "And get out-of-the-way. I want to go home." Lieu thought the man would try to stop him, but he merely moved to the opposite wall, turning to face him as he walked past. This made the young man stop and slowly look back. When the masked man made no move to leave, Lieu turned, staring suspiciously at him. "Who are you? Why did you help me against those Bender scum?"

The masked man blinked. "Because I…care, about what people like you and me have to go through in a Bender-powered world. It seems that you and I share the same amount of hatred for them. Perhaps…our stories are the same…"

There was a pause before Lieu snorted softly. "If you mean you had a Bender brother who killed your entire family, then sure."

The masked man shook his head. "No, Firebenders destroyed my entire family and scarred my face. And when I meant by the same, I meant by the very same people you and I despise. And I was right."

Silence filled the alleyway as the two men stared at each other. Lieu was the first to come out of it.

"You still haven't given me your name…"

The masked men inhaled deeply. "Could you give me yours first?"

Lieu blinked. "…Lee, but I go by Lieutenant or Lieu ever since my family was taken from me."

The masked man gave a short incline of his head. "Thank you, Lieutenant." Straightening up, the masked man added, "You may call me Amon."

* * *

Once everything had settled down, the remaining fighters went back to taking down their opponents. Korra was fending off against Zaheer quite well once the shock of Lieutenant getting caught in the explosions passed. She was fighting on pure, raw adrenaline now.

Far away, lying on the ground, Ghazan slowly came out of unconsciousness. Closing his eyes tight, he groaned and tried to get up. He lifted his hands off the ground and tried to stand, but his legs felt like Jello and he fell on his rear, growling in pain from his tailbone. Rubbing the back of his messed up head, he slowly looked up, but froze, his eyes widening. Standing directly in front of him was Lieutenant, holding a weakly charged kali stick in front of his face, daring him to attack. Ghazan gritted his teeth, digging his fingers into the dirt.

"Long ago," Lieu began, "I had survived the worst tragedy that any child could have gone through. When you left me for dead, I had run away. For fifteen years I left my precious world behind, giving myself a new name. Then one night, when I lost my dignity for the hundredth time, I was saved from myself and my pain. Meeting Amon was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Ghazan's eyelids lowered in a glare. "Amon was a fake persona. He was a Bender just like me-"

Lieutenant jerked the end of the stick closer to him, making him back away. "Amon was _nothing_ like you…" Lieu raised his kali stick in the air and was ready to thrust it down onto Ghazan's head to fry his brain, but he stood frozen, deathly quiet. He stared with resentment and hatred in his eyes, but still he didn't strike his brother. He just stared at him, thinking about his entire life up until that very moment, watching, waiting, wanting to end it all. Ghazan was weak and defenseless, it would be so easy, so fast, so…done… Even with all that in his mind, Lieutenant couldn't strike to kill. After an excruciating six seconds, Lieu's arm began to fall, the kali stick hanging half limp in his hand. The dying electricity disappeared and his eyes turned somber, calm, and tired. Slowly, Lieutenant blinked and stepped away. "And _I_ am nothing like you."

Ghazan blinked in surprise. Exhaling out of his nose, Lieutenant turned around and slammed his kali sticks back into his smaller generator charger as he started to walk away. Ghazan stared after him in shock, not knowing why his brother didn't avenge their family when he had been so ready to do it minutes ago. Why did Lieutenant not kill him?

With some strength back, earth began to silently form around Ghazan's right hand. Eyes narrowing dangerously, he carefully stood up, heating up the rock and dirt to make lava. He took one step forward, growling after him.

"Finish me off, Lee!" Lieutenant didn't stop or turn back. "You coward, finish it!"

When Lieutenant continued to ignore him, Ghazan got very angry and ran after him, lava- and rock-covered fist ready beside him. Blinded by raw, powerful emotion, he came up behind his younger brother, ready to strike him dead with a solitary blow to the back of the head. What happened next was too quick, too invisible for Ghazan to see or anticipate.

As if in slow motion, Lieutenant slowly reached back, grabbed his partly charged kali sticks, yanked them out, and turned around, holding them together to slash diagonally down to the left. Time returned to normal and, swiftly, sharp, jagged currents of electricity struck Ghazan in the chest and traveled down to the right half of his ribs as Lieutenant fulfilled his final attack. Crouching to the left, he stared past Ghazan as he stood frozen over him, his mouth and eyes wide open in shocked surprise. As the electricity suddenly sparked over him, he began to fall right past Lieutenant, who never moved.

Ghazan lay on the ground, dead. After a few more seconds, Lieutenant slowly stood up, staring down at the ground. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw his brother lying there, completely unmoving. Since the electricity had struck the place where his heart was, he had died even before he hit the ground. After staring at the ground, Lieutenant slowly looked towards the sky, tears forming in his eyes. As he saw his family and Amon's faces in the clouds, staring proudly down at him, they streamed down his face and dripped off his chin. Inhaling slow and deep, Lieutenant closed his eyes, pushing the rest of them out.

' _Please…forgive me…'_

It was finally over. For now and forever, Lieutenant was free…


End file.
